Resilient mounting for tubular microphone



prl 1, 1969 Filed March 5. 1965 5G Il INVENTOR. RuDoLF 66mm;

mud/[Jouy A-rrawtys United States Patent O 3,436,495 RESILIENT MOUNTINGFOR TUBULAR MICRUPHNE Rudolf Grike, `Vienna, Austria, assigner toAkustische u. Kino-Garate Gesellschaft m.b.H., Vienna, Austria FiledMar. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 437,424 Claims priority, application Austria,Mar. 20, 1964, A 2,450/64 Int. Cl. Htl4n 1/04 U.S. Cl. 179-146 20 ClaimsABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A microphone assembly includes a microphonewhich is surrounded by a tubular sleeve slightly spaced from themicrophone. Two resilient mountings are disposed in the sleeve, each ofthe mountings having an outer rim anchored at a fixed location withinthe sleeve, a pin being secured to the microphone and being coaxialtherewith.

Summary of the invention This invention relates in general to amicrophone construction and, in particular, to a new and usefulmicrophone housing and resilient microphone mounting.

Microphones must often be carried on the body of the speaker, `forinstance, because a stand cannot be used as it would disturb the visualimpression or because the range of movement required by the speaker isso large that stationary microphones are not suflicient. Suchmicrophones to be carried on the body, briefly called lavaliermicrophones, often transmit the noise which is produced when themicrophone rubs on the clothes of the speaker. A similar noise is causedby the movement of the microphone cable.

In order to eliminate this disadvantage it is known to provide ahousing, in which the microphone proper is resiliently mounted. Toobtain such a resilient mounting, a suitable resilient material, such asrubber, plastics material or the like, is provided between themicrophone and the housing. For an effective resilient mounting, thethickness of the resilient body must be lsuch that the microphone canvibrate Iwith the required amplitude without touching the inside surfaceof the housing. The thickness of the resilient interlayer necessitates alarge size of the housing so that it is difficult to arrange themicrophone in an inconspicuous manner. l

The invention teaches how an effective elimination of noise can beachieved without an appreciable increase in the size of the housing. Theinvention is applicable with special advantage to rod-shapedmicrophones, in which the diaphragm is disposed at one end of thecylindrical microphone body. Such a preferably rod-shaped microphone isarranged according to the invention in a sleeve, which is slightlyspaced around the microphone, and the microphone is mounted in thesleeve at each end by a resilient mounting, which has an outer rimsecured in the sleeve, and a pin which extends in the axis of themicrophone and carries the latter.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide an improvedmicrophone and housing construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a microphone mountingincluding a tubular housing for accommodating the microphone with acentering diaphragm located adjacent at least one end of said housingand having a centering opening for receiving a projecting pin of themicrophone in the housing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a microphone and housingassembly including resilient diaphragm means in a housing for centeringand resiliently supporting a cylindrical microphone therein andincluding a plate element with through contacts spaced from thediaphragm means for connection to the incoming electrical wires and themicrophone wires, respectively, and wherein the connecting wires formadditional resilient support for the microphone.

A further object of the invention is to provide a microphone and housingwhich are simple in design, rugged in construction and economical tomanufacture.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use,reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter in which there are illustrated and described preferredembodiments of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a longitudinal sectional view of a microphone constructed inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2a is a plan View of another embodiment of centering diaphragm made'from a sound-permeable fabric;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of still another embodiment of centeringdiaphragm;

FIG. 4 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment ofthe invention with the arrangement of the Ilead Wires at the rear end ofthe microphone; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing an arrangement forconnecting the microphone to the resilient mounting.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the rod-shaped microphone 1 including thediaphragm 2 and the protective cover 3 is accommodated in a tubularsleeve 7. The protective cover 3 carries a pin 4 which projects from themicrophone. The free end of the pin 4 is secured to the center of acentering diaphragm 5 of sound-permeable material. The centeringdiaphragm may suitably be formed with concentric bulges and grooves toprovide sufficient resiliency. The outer rim of the centering diaphragm5 is secured to a sleeve insert 20 at this end of the housing 7 or itmay be held on a similar ledge formation formed directly on the interiorof the cylindrical housing 7. A cap 22 is fitted over this end of thehousing 7.

A similar arrangement including the diaphragm 8 is provided at theopposite or rear end of the microphone using an insert or sleeve 214which carries the diaphragm 8 at its inner end. The periphery of thesleeve 7 may be formed with apertures (holes, slots and the like) toavoid undesirable acoustic effects.

The electrical terminals are connected to outgoing wires 9, which arehighly flexible. A plate 10 is arranged `to cover the outer end of theinsert 24 and it carries two through lngs or tags 11, which areconnected at the inner ends to respective wires 9. A tension-relievingbushing 13 is :[itted in a cap 12 fwhich is engaged on the outer end ofplate 10. A cable 14 extends through a bore in the bushing 13 and cableelements 13a and 14a are connected to respective tags 11, 11.

It is apparent from FIGS. l and 2 that the centering diaphragm 5 servesas a resilient mounting and extending across the interior of the sleeve7. The centering diaphragm 5 is either provided with openings 5a orcomprises a sound-permeable fabric 5 (see, eg., FIG. 2a).

The resilient mounting may also comprise a centering spider 5', as shownin FIG. 3, in which event the openings Sa.' between the spider arms donot obstruct the passage of sound. The resilient mounting may be Amadefrom impregnated fabric, plastic material or metal. It has been foundthat a distance of 0.3 to 1.0 mm. between the microphone and the insidesurface of the outer sleeve is sufficient if the above-mentionedcentering devices are employed. The sleeve 7, which is suitably madefrom metal, has also only a small wall thickness so that the size of themicrophone is not substantially increased. An appreciable increase insize results only in the longitudinal direction but this is much lessdisturbing than an excessive thickness.

FIG. 4 shows a special arrangement of the lead wires 9', with the aim toavoid a generation of frictional noise between the wires and theresilient mounting. The lwires 9 are secured to a centering pin 16 andextend out through the center of the centering diaphragm 8. 1n the spacebehind the centering diaphragm `8 and the plate 10', the wires are bentto form loops 17, 17 and their outer ends are soldered to the tags 11.

FIG. shows an arrangement for connecting the centering diaphragm 5" tothe microphone 1". The protective cover 3 used in FIG. 1 is replaced bya separate cap 18. Such a microphone may be removed from the sleeve andwhen provided with a conventional protective cover may be used in theusual manner. `It is obvious that the sleeve must be centrally dividedin this case to enable a replacement of the microphone.

Bales (funnels, Helmholtz resonators) may be provided in known mannerbefore the diaphragm to modify the frequency response of the microphone,particularly in the treble range. Instead of the pressure microphonewhich is shown, a directional microphone, e.g., with a cardioid patternmay be accommodated in the sleeve, which is suitably provided withnumerous apertures in this case.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the inventiveprinciples, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

What is claimed is:

1. A microphone assembly, comprising a microphone having a longitudinalaxis, a tubular sleeve surrounding said microphone and slightly spacedtherearound, and two resilient mountings disposed in said sleeveadjacent to opposite ends thereof, each of said mountings having anouter rim anchored at a fixed location within said sleeve and a pinwhich is coaxial with and secured to said microphone.

2. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which saidmicrophone is rod-shaped.

3. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which saidresilient mountings are arranged to center said microphone in saidsleeve.

4. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 3, wherein at least oneof said resilient mountings comprises a centering ring.

5. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 3, wherein at least oneof said resilient mountings comprises a center spider.

6. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 3, wherein at least oneof said resilient mountings comprises a centering diaphragm of textilefabric.

7. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 6, in which said fabricis sound-permeable.

8. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mountingmeans comprises a diaphragm formed with apertures.

9. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which at least oneof said resilient mountings consists of metal.

10. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which at least oneof said resilient mountings consists of plastic material.

11. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which at least oneof said resilient mountings consists of impregnated fabric.

12. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, in which the outsideperipheral surface of said microphone l and the inside peripheralsurface of said sleeve are approximately from 0.3 to 1.0 mm. apart.

13. A microphone assembly as set forth in claim 1, including atension-relieving bushing fitted in said sleeve axially outwardly of oneof said resilient mountings, a terminal support fixed in said bushing,terminal means carried by said terminal support disposed on the insideand outside thereof, exible insulated conductor means electricallyconnected to said terminal means on the inside of said support and tosaid microphone, and mechanically secured to and electrically insulatedfrom the pin of said one mounting and extending through said onemounting in contact lwith said pin thereof, said conductor means havinga self-supporting curved portion between said pin and said terminalmeans.

14. A microphone assmbly as set forth in claim 1, including a capdetachably mounted on one end of said microphone and secured to the pinof one of said mountings.

15. A microphone assembly which comprises a microphone having alongitudinal axis, a tubular sleeve surrounding said microphone andslightly spaced around the same, and at least one resilient mountingdisposed in said sleeve adjacent one end thereof, each of said mountingshaving an outer rim anchored at a xed location within said sleeve and apin, which is coaxial with and secured to said microphone.

16. A microphone housing assembly comprising a tubular housing, amicrophone in said housing having a centering pin projecting from atleast one end, and resilient diaphragm means held in said housingadjacent at least one end and having an opening through which saidmicrophone centering pin extends, said microphone being resilientlylocated within said housing by said diaphragm means.

17. A microphone housing assembly comprising a tubular housing, amicrophone in said housing having a centering pin projecting from eachend, `and resilient diaphragm means held in said housing adjacent eachend and having an opening through which said microphone centering pinsextend, said microphone resiliently located within said housing by saiddiaphragm means.

18. A microphone housing assembly comprising a tubular housing, amicrophone in said housing having a centering pin projecting from atleast one end, resilient diaphragm means held in said housing adjacentat least one end and having an opening through which said microphonecentering pin extends, said microphone being resiliently located withinsaid housing by said diaphragm means, said resilient diaphragm meansbeing a resilient member having openings therethrough, a plate memberdisposed in said housing between said diaphragm means and the adjacentend thereof and having contact tags extending therethrough, andconnecting electrical wires extending from said microphone to saidcontact tags and from said contact tags to the exterior of said housingand providing additional resilient support for said microphone withinsaid housing.

19. A mcrophone housing assembly comprising a tubular housing, amicrophone in said housing having a centering pin projecting from eachend, resilient diaphragm means held in said housing adjacent each end ofsaid microphone and having an opening through which each respective oneof said microphone centering pins extends, said microphone beingresiliently located within said housing by said diaphragm means, saidresilient diaphragm means being a resilient member having openingstherethrough for the passage of sound, a plate member disposed in saidhousing between said diaphragm means and the adjacent end thereof andhaving contact tags extending therethrough, and connecting electricalwires extending from said microphone to said contact tags and from saidcontact tags to the exterior of said housing and providing additionalresilient support for said microphone within said housing.

20. A microphone housing assembly comprising a tubular housing, amicrophone in said housing having a centering pin projecting from atleast one end, a sleeve insert in each end of said housing, a resilientdiaphragm held in said housing by each sleeve insert adjacent each endof said microphone and having an opening through which said microphonecentering pin extends, said microphone being resiliently located lWithinsaid housing by said diaphragm means, said resilient diaphragm meansbeing a resilient member having openings therethrough, a plate memberdisposed in said housing between said diaphragm means and the adjacentend thereof and having contact tags extending therethrough, andconnecting electrical wires extending from said microphone to saidcontact tags and being crossed between said microphone and said tags andextending from said contact tags to the exterior of said housing andproviding additional resilient support for said microphone within saidhousing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLlAM C. COOPER, PrimaryExaminer,

